Comedy trio set to open their can of laughter...

Dawn Renton

In that case, Scotland is set to be in the best health when Canned Laughter rolls across the country.

The new stage show brings together the talents of master impressionist Allan Stewart and comedy virtuosos Andy Gray and Grant Stott in a funny new play – about well, being funny!

Canned Laughter takes us back to the 1970s when comedy trio Alec, Angus and Rory are one of Scotland’s top acts who are just about to hit the big time. The lads are riding high and nothing is going to stop them. Or is it?

Fast forward to today and the three find themselves together again for the first time in decades. Will they be able to put their past differences behind them and make the country laugh once more?

The new play has been years in the making, as Grant Stott explains.

“We’ve been playing around with the idea of doing a play for a while now,” he said. “We initially thought about basing it on a band who had split up and reunited. Well, that was until we realised that not all of us could play any instruments!

“Then we thought well, comedy is what we all do, so let’s keep it simple and just do exacty that.”

The trio are no strangers to working together as they are perhaps better known for appearing in Edinburgh’s annual panto.

“Because we have worked together for many years, we get on really well and we are friends which comes across on the stage,” Grant continued.

“To take the relationship that we’ve formed over many years of doing panto together into a play and take that across Scotland just seems like a dream to me.

“We all know each other well enough to say if we don’t like something or feel that something isn’t working. I can’t wait to get started.”

“The joy of working with Andy and Grant is that the fun we have backstage translates on to the stage and the audience can see that we love our work,” Allan chimed in.

Having taken to the stage for panto for many years, Grant is no novice in treading the boards.

“Other than the pantos of course, I made my straight acting debut in 2013 in ‘Kiss Me, Honey Honey’ with Andy, so I know what to expect,” he said. “It’s great to work with seasoned pros since I am still a bit of a newbie.

“Of course, there is always that doubt that what we’ve done isn’t going to be funny, but Ed Curtis who wrote the play along with Allan is great and I think the finished show is hilarious and I hope that the audiences think so to.”

Fife is the starting point of the tour, with the world premiere opening at the Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy from March 9-12, then it moves on to the Theatre Royal, Glasgow from March 15-19, His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen from March 24-26, and finally the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh from March 29 to April 2.